Think 53: Food Talks - Stanford Universityweb.stanford.edu/class/think53/magic17.pdf · Think 53: Food Talks Dan Jurafsky & Yoshiko Matsumoto The Magic of Food Names and the Ideophone

Think53:FoodTalksDanJurafsky&YoshikoMatsumoto

TheMagicofFoodNamesandtheIdeophone

Tuesday,April18,2017

Pockymochi

/pokiʔ/

/pokin/

Taste“Ourexperienceoffoodsismediatedthroughalloursenses:theseincludeallthefamiliarsenses(pain,touch,sight,hearing,taste,andsmell)aswellastheperhapslessfamiliarsuchaschemesthesis.[…]oursensesofsightandtouchcansetupexpectaTonsoftheoverallflavoroffoodwhichcanbeveryhardtoignore.TryeaTngthesamefoodusingeitherhigh-qualitychinaplatesandsteelorsilvercutleryorpaperplatesandplasTccutlery;thefoodseemstotastebe[erwiththeperceivedqualityoftheutensils.Equally,thecoloroffoodcanaffectourpercepTonoftheflavor;tryeaTngasteakdyedblue!

However,amongallthesenses,themostsignificantforourappreciaTonoffoodremainthechemicalsenseswhichencompasstaste,smell,andchemesthesis.”Barham,P.,Skibsted,L.H.,Bredie,W.L.,BomFrøst,M.,Møller,P.,Risbo,J.,...&Mortensen,L.M.(2010).Moleculargastronomy:anewemergingscienTficdiscipline.Chemicalreviews,110(4),2313-2365.

Taste

•  “Tasteisbothasensorypercep*onandanaesthe*cpreference.” (Strauss2005:1430)

•  Tasteis“anincorporatedprincipleofclassificaTonwhichgovernsallformsofincorporaTon,choosingandmodifyingeverythingthatthebodyingestsanddigestsandassimilates,physiologicallyandpsychologically.’’(Bourdieu1984:190)

Taste

•  Inherently“cultural,”inthatwhatisconsiderededible,issocio-culturallydetermined(Rememberthestoryofrabbits?)

•  Necessarilyinvolvessomeelementofevalua8on,usuallypleasantorunpleasant

•  Subjecttoawiderangeofindividualvaria8on

Backhouse,A.E.,1994.TheLexicalFieldofTaste:ASeman>cStudyofJapaneseTasteTerms.CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridge.

TVAdver8sementsofFoodStrauss(2005)

•  HowtastedescriptorsareusedinfoodcommercialsinJapan,KoreaandtheU.S.

•  Howthedomainsoftasteandtac8lityarecombinedtoaestheTcizethefoodproductsineachcountryinordertorenderthemsensuouslyappealing.

DatasetStrauss(2005)

•  Languageandfoodrelatedcommercialsfromthefirst100airedduringtheearlyeveningofa1996weeknightonthenaTonalchannelsfromYokohama,SeoulandLA(300commercialsintotal).

•  Japanesecorpushadhighestnumberoffood-ads:Japan(42%),Korea(30%),U.S.(23%).

ANoteonResearchMethodologies

•  QuanTtaTve•  QualitaTve

•  Experimental•  ObservaTonal

9

‘Delicious’and‘goodtasTng’

•  Oishiiおいしい‘delicious’appears33Tmesin15ofthe42commercialsinJapanese.

•  Masissta맛있다‘delicious,(lit.)‘hasflavor’,appearsin6Koreancommercials.

•  “Delicious”and“good”appearin4U.S.commercials.

Taste-textureinJapan

•  So@nessinJapaneseadsassociatedwithbabies(eventhoughtheproductsarenotbabyfood).

•  Sovnessassociatedwith“airinessandwispiness.”(p.1442)

•  “Emphasisonthevisualaspectofthefooditems,i.e.,onhowtheyappearaestheTcally,ratherthanonhowtheproductsactuallyfeelinsidethemouthastheyarebeingconsumed.”(p.1440)

Taste-textureintheU.S.

•  Emphasisonthe‘so@ness’offooditems(p.1442).

•  Descriptorsinclude:creamy,rich,so1,tender,ooey,gooey

**“NoadjecTvesuchasEnglish‘creamy’represenTngtextureexistsinJapaneseorKorean.”(p.1444)

???

Taste-textureintheU.S.

•  Emphasisonthe‘so@ness’offooditems(p.1442).

•  Descriptorsinclude:creamy,rich,so1,tender,ooey,gooey

**“NoadjecTvesuchasEnglish‘creamy’represenTngtextureexistsinJapaneseorKorean.”(p.1444)

torotoro-shita,torokeru,maroyakana,kuri:mi:na

Taste-textureintheU.S.

•  SovnessintheU.S.isthatofafullnessoftextureratherthantheairinessandwispinessoftheJapaneseads.

•  Spreadability–“thickyetpliantastheyaremanipulatedwithutensilsorfingers.”(p.1443)

•  Lexicalsynesthesiacombiningtasteandtouch:‘Ittastesricher,muchcreamier.’(p.1443)

Taste-textureintheU.S.

•  TheevocaTonof‘sovness,’bothvisuallyandlinguisTcallytendstowardassociaTonswithadultsensuality.

•  IntheU.S.,“adjecTves‘indulgent,’‘irresisTble,’andeven‘completelydecadent’connoteanaspectofnega8velymoralevalua8onassociatedwiththeproduct,butusedinaquasi-seduc8veway.”(p.1446)

•  SensualhedonismintheU.S.vspurityandinnocenceinJapan.(p.1446)

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h[ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CExINHPCgjk

h[ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG_9oxSo-Ks

Taste-textureinKorea

•  AllusionstoothersensaTonssuchastemperature,moistureandpain.

•  Useideophones:•  pasakpasakhata바삭바삭하다 ‘crunchy’,•  sayngsaynghata싱싱하다 ‘fresh’

•  Ideophonesare“descrip8veexpressions,usuallyinvolvingsomelevelofreduplicaTon,inwhichsounds,texture,andimpressionsarephonologicallyrecreatedintheactualpronunciaTonofthewords.”

Taste-textureinKoreausesofideophones

•  Koreancommercialsdonotunderscoresovness,butemphasizewhatishardands8mula8ng– pasakpasakhata ‘crunchy’– wulthungpwulthunghata ‘solidandbumpy’울퉁불퉁하다 – ccalishata짜릿하다 ‘sTnging,sTmulaTng’

•  NoexpressionstocapturethenoTonof‘creaminess’and‘richness’used

Taste-textureinKoreausesofideophones

•  Temperature– siwenhata시원하다 ‘cool,refreshing’– Ssaahata싸하다 ‘cool,refreshing’

•  Moisture– chokchokhata촉촉하다 ‘moist,damp,dewy’

•  ScinTllaTngsensaTonofthetongue–  thokssota톡쏘다 ‘sTnging’– elelhata얼얼하다 ‘spicytotheextentthatone’snervesarenumbed’

TasteandTextureDescripTonsonPackages-Japanese

•  ExpressionsofsensaTonsfeltinsidethemouthincludingideophonesarefrequentlyusedinsnackpackages

RoundandrichsweetpotatochocolateWe’vegentlycoveredtheinside-layerofwhippedchocolatewithsweetpotatochocolatethatso@lytouchesyourmouth.WhippedsweetpotatochocolateWehaditembracetheair,carefullyworkeditinandperfecteditintochocolatethatsmoothlymeltsinyourmouth.GentlycrispycookieWehavebakedacookierichinflavor,usingeggsandcondensedmilk.Althoughitcontains75%chocolatepersTck,thetastelingeringinyourmouthisarefreshing,newtypeofdelicious.

PockyinKorea •  RealchocolateandacrunchysTck•  AchocolatesTckthat'swellbalanced

•  ThesecretofdeliciousPocky

•  Weroastcarefullyselectedcacaobeans•  Bymeansofatechniquethatonly

Pockyhas•  Thenatural[asininnate]strong[asin

deepordark]flavorofchocolateand•  Thecrispycrispymouthfeel/

texture*[fromthenextline]ofbakingperfectlyintheoven

•  ThisisthelivingchocosTck

[PhotoandtranslaTon-CourtesyofJudyKroo]

PreferredTaste-texturedescrip8onsinJapan,KoreaandtheU.S.

•  Japan sov,delicious•  Korea hard,sTmulaTng• U.S. sov,creamy

WhileyoureadStrauss:

IdenTfyyourfavoritefoodorfavoredfoodinyourculture,anddescribethesensaTonyoufeelwhenyoueatit.IsyourdescripTonsimilartothoseusedintheAmericanTVadverTsementsgivenbyStrauss?

Oinoglossiaor“WineTalk”andindexicalorder

Silverstein,M.(2003)IndexicalorderandthedialecTcsofsociolinguisTclife.Language&Communica>on23:193–229

“‘Indexicalorder’istheconceptnecessarytoshowingushowtorelatethemicro-socialtothemacro-socialframesofanalysisofanysociolinguisTcphenomenon.”

Oinoglossiaor“WineTalk”andindexicalorder

“NotwithstandingtheexistenceofstandardEnglishasanentrenchedinsTtuTonalfactofsociolinguisTchegemony,suchregistersas‘‘winetalk,’’whichIhavedubbedoinoglossia,showthemechanismsoflife-styleemblema8za8on(conven8on-dependentindexicaliconicity)atworkviatheprocessesofhigher-orderindexicality.Withinthecomplexpa[ernofclassandotherkindsofstraTficaTon,wine,aperduringlyconstantpresTgecomesTble,hasbeenaggressivelymarketedtowhatissomeTmescalled‘‘yuppiedom’’or‘‘theyuppoisie’’(viewedthroughage,income,profession,etc.)andhasseizedtheimaginaTonofawidesectorialswatchofpeopleconcernedwithoranxiousaboutmobility.AsacomesTble,thisaestheTcobject,wine,is,ofcourse,consumedintheaestheTcexperience;butitsconsump8onistheculmina8ngmomentofcoopera8veperformanceart,tobesure,inwhich‘‘educatedconnoisseurship’’canbemanifestedwhiledoingawaywiththear8factofperceptualencounter.”

Second-orderindexicalityWilliamHamilton,TheNewYorker,May4,1992.

Oinoglossiaor“WineTalk”andindexicalorder

Professionalwine-tasTngnotes(M.Broadbent),lexicallyanalyzed.(FromFig.15ofSilverstein2003)

Oinoglossiaor“WineTalk”andindexicalorder

“Whenwelookathowtheoenoglossiclexicalregisterisemployedinprofessionaldiscourse,wefindthatthetasTngnotedoes,indeed,haveatextualform,inwhichthephraseologicaloccurrencesofalldescriptorspresupposetheorderlinessofthetasTngencounter.Thetas8ngnoteisadiscoursegenre,inotherwords,relaTvetotheorganizaTonofwhich,amongthosewhocontroltheregister,paradigmaTcsetsofpossibletermscanappearinareportfollowingthephasedtasTngencounterofFig.14.Whatwehave,inotherwords,is[Putnamian(1975)sociolinguisTc]wordsandexpressionspairedwiththeirspecialculturalconcepts(Putnam’s‘stereotypes’)aboutwineasacomplexaesthe8ccomes8ble.ThisisatechnicalvocabularyofconnoisseurshipmanifestedinuseonlyasthewordsandexpressionsformpartofdenotaTonal(andeveninteracTonal)textproperlycohesiveandthencecoherent.”

Oinoglossiaor“WineTalk”andindexicalorder

“Ofcourse,popular,sociolinguis8callyuninformedbelieffocusesmerelyonthelexical,asthoughthiswerenotamaVerofthesensesofthesewordsandexpressionsemergingfrompragma8cbap8sminagenre-specificregister.[…]Butfurther,thedescrip8onsofthewinealongevalua8vedimensionsoffigura8vedis8nc8onindexSpeaker’sBourdivine(1984)‘dis8nc8on’.SothebasisforusingthesefiguraTonsauthoritaTvelyisthefactthat,inessence,‘‘ittakesonetoknowone,’’thatthereis,inotherwords,aconsubstanTalityofinhabited/figuratedessencebetweentheintenTonalitydoingtheevaluaTonandtheobjectoftheevaluaTon.”

MeliaRobinsonBusinessInsiderJune14,2015

Orderup!Themeltedbu[erandstrawberryjamranoverthesides,anditwasbeauTful.Atfirst,Iwassurprisedbyhowdifficultitwastocutthecrustwithabu[erknife.Bakerwasn'tkiddingwhenhesaidhelikestheendsburnt.ButthecrispnessaddedacontrasTngtexturetothespongy,sTllwarmcenter,makingforaperfectcombinaTon.

LeaveittoSanFranciscotodisruptthefoundaTonofawell-balancedbreakfast.Toastisbeginningtogothewayofchocolate,cheese,andcoffee—"ar8sanal."

TheMill'sinch-and-a-half-thickslabsofdoughygoodnessaretoastedonhighandservedwithlocallysourcedbu[ersandjams.

$4Toast

OvernightOats

Ideophones

Ideophones

•  IdeophoneAvividrepresenta>onofanideainsound.Aword,oOenonomatopoeic,whichdescribesapredicate,qualifica>veoradverbinrespecttomanner,colour,sound,smell,ac>on,stateorintensity.

[C.M.Doke,BantuLinguisTcTerminology,1935,p.118]

Ideophones(sound-symbolic/synesthe8cexpressions)•  Phonomimes

–  “voicemimickingwords”(擬声語giseigo)e.g.wan-wan–  “soundmimickingwords”(擬音語giongo)e.g.gata-gata

•  Phenomimes(擬態語 giseigo)– wordsthatdepictstates,condiTons,ormannersoftheexternalworld(non-auditorysenses),e.g.kossori‘stealthily’.

•  Psychomimes(擬情語gijōgo)– wordsthatsymbolizementalcondiTonsorsensaTons,e.g.ira-iranervously

[Shibatani1990,Iwasaki2006]

UriFriedmanNov27,2015TheAtlan>c.IllustraTonbyJamesChapman

HowtoSnoreandClapinSixLanguages

UriFriedman.Nov27,2015.TheAtlan>c.IllustraTonbyJamesChapman

GuessingtheMeaning•  nurunuru–dryorslimy?•  pikapika–brightordark?•  wakuwaku–excitedorbored?•  iraira–happyorangry?•  guzuguzu–movingquicklyormovingslowly?•  kurukuru–spinningaroundormovingupanddown?•  kosokoso–walkingquietlyorwalkingloudly?•  gochagocha–Tdyormessy?•  garagara–crowdedorempty?•  tsurutsuru–smoothorrough?[ByGwilymLockwood]

Answers•  nurunuru–slimy•  pikapika–bright•  wakuwaku–excited•  iraira–angry•  guzuguzu–movingslowly•  kurukuru–spinningaround•  kosokoso–walkingquietly•  gochagocha–messy•  garagara–empty•  tsurutsuru–smooth

[ByGwilymLockwood]

TheMagicofFoodNames

JapaneseNewYear’sFoodandHomonyms

•  kuromame(黒豆） ‘blackbeans’mameni-hataraku‘workdiligently’.•  kazunoko(数の子)‘herringroe’‘(lit.)manychildren’

JapaneseNewYear’sFoodandHomonyms

•  kurikinton(栗きんとん),　‘chestnuttreasure(s)’[stewedchestnutswithsugararealsobrightyellowgold,connoTngwealth.]

JapaneseNewYear’sFoodandHomonyms

•  tai(鯛）,‘redseabream’Ø medetai(めでたい)‘congratulatory’.

JapaneseNewYear’sFoodandHomonyms

•  Kobumaki(昆布巻き）‘kelprolls’yorokobu(喜ぶ)‘behappy’•  daidai(ダイダイ),‘Japanesebi[erorange’Ø daidai(代々)‘manygeneraTons’

WordMagicS8llLives!

•  KitKatキットカット　/ki[oka[o/

Ki<oka<o(ki<okatsu)surely(you’ll)win“Youwillsurelywin!”

WordMagicSTllLives!

VariousTastes

Summary

•  Humanbehavior,includinguseoflanguageandfoodconsumpTon,closelyreflectssocialandcultural(beliefsystem)backgroundoftheagents.

•  Valuejudgmentsaresocio-culturallymediated.